Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1887-07-27
THE COSTERMONGER.
ONE OF THE MOST uNCiVlLIzED
DENIzENS OF LONDON.

ONE OF THE MOST uNcIvILlzED
DENIzENs OF LONDON.
To the Street and Barrow Born-The
Family-stowed Away at Night-Inves-
tigation.
I find the present generation of London
costers, as a rule, to the manner, or, per-
haps l should say, to the street and bar
row born. 1t is rarely q man thus born,
and who has carried shallow" "a fiat
basket, or showed o barrow from boy.
hood, ever gets out Of the business. He
may rise into green grocer, a coal shed,
a fried fish shop, or even a bacon and
butter establishment, by dint of great in
dustry, but this is dizzy eminence which
few costers attain, and of which the ma
jority do not dream. He is indeed fortu-
nate if, after busy life of almost cease
less toll, he can gaze upon as his own q
faithful diminutive ass, q barrow, few
baskets, and such other necessary imple-
ments of trade, together with sufficient
ready cash to make his daily purchases.
If to this be added the furniture for one
OF two rooms in back court or alley, and
O Sunday suit for himself and "best
dress" for the "old gal," we have, from
the standpoint of a costermonger, q pic
ture of thoroughly well-to-do man, If
not of opulence itself.
Reliable statistics as to the present
number of London costermongers are I'M
obtainable, but am satisfied that an es-
innate of 1000 adults is below rather
than above the mark. The coster has
long enjoyed the luxury of working his
entire family, including his wife. Home
life has no charms for him. His home is
on the streets and his recreation ground
the corner gin shop. Up long before sun
rise in the morning, he pushes his quaint
little barrow or spurs his stubborn donkey
on to market, and is ready to pick up bar
gains in fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts or
ANYTHING else that can be sold again.
And then the object is to sell. In this
work he presses into service his wife or
female companion, for the majority Of
costers waive the marriage ceremony, and
all the children that the school board in
spectors don't snatch from him. The
average coster's idea of his duty toward
his family is to provide for them on the
lowest scale compatible with keeping in
Quiry at distance, and work them on
the highest. The state, to large extent,
is the regulator of the coster's family.
Now and again it steps in and compels
him to take charge of his offspring, it in
tervenes in his gentle paStime of jumping
on the "old woman" and it captures the
budding costers, male or female, claps
them, ragged, dirty, uncivilized, into o
board school, and turns them out "beau-
tiful little scholards." But the state is
"arsh and harbitrary," he growls, land
costers ave no rights in these days of
board schools, street improvements, model
tenement 'ouses, and the like"
Pardon the depression. It is not often
that the stock is closed out, even by the
united efforts of the family, until long
after dark. There is no evening meal, no
cheerful fire awaiting the nomad of Lon
don's thousand miles of streets. He and
his wife have taken their bread and penny
worth of fried fish, hot from the fish shop
at the top Of the court, and washed it
down with pint of "three penny" at the
neighboring pub. The children have
Tapped up their meals in the same man.
ner, like Gideon's hosts, as they marched
along. And if the night does not end in
gin drinking, fuddled heads, and perhaps
in blows, what are the closing scenes
The whole family tucked away in some
vile cellar or room in what is known as
"Coster's district" The barrow, covered
with O sack or two, acts as bed for some
of the smaller members of the family
the father and mother, and probably q
daughter and son of IA or Is, all huddled
together in one room, some sleeping on
the floor. Under the bed, if there is one,
are the vegetables remaining unsold.
Here calmly repose the "fine fresh water
cre-e-ses," the CHERRY ripe" "flne ripe
plums," the "inguns," of to morrow, and
not infrequently the "ni-ew mackerel,"
and "all large and alive OW "new sprats
OPP which the denizens of London are to
relish next day.
III may judge, after reading the volu-
minous testimony before the royal COM
mission on housing the poor, the one thing
that commission did not solve was what
becomes of the costers donkey at night.
The combined interrogations of the Prince
of Wales, Lord Salisbury, and Sir Charles
dixie failed to legally establish where the
coster kept his donkey, his barrow and
his surplus stock, though one cruel wit
ness deposed that water cress was gener-
ally kept under the bed, sprinkled with q
little water and sold next morning as
fresh gathered water cress. The school
inspectors generally declared that the
coster preferred the old haunts, and would
not go to respectable tenement house il
the opportunity was afforded. They can
not make themselves sociable nor afiliate
with other people in any way. Few of
their children attend school, and it was
difficult to find school to get them into,
as they were 50 ragged and dirty. The
habits of the eoster made him disagree
able neighbor. He deposited his fish and
refuse vegetable matter in the common
dust bin of the court, hitehed his donkey
in the back yard and stored his unsold
stock in his room. In fact the London
costermonger is the terror of the pro-
moters of model tenement houses, and it
is said that he will wreck new house in
very short time.-Robert P. Porter in
Inter Ocean.